Schwarzenegger’s Unwelcome July Surprise

Posted on Jul 2, 2010

Around 200,000 state employees in California will notice an adjustment in their July paychecks—and it won’t be the kind of change they want. According to an order issued Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, these Golden State workers may receive minimum-wage pay for the month, but they’ve got an ally in Controller John Chiang, who’s prepared to offer some resistance. —KA

The Sacramento Bee:

According to a letter delivered to Controller John Chiang in late afternoon, July pay for most hourly state employees will be withheld to the minimum allowed by federal law – $7.25 an hour – and then restored once there’s a budget.

Chiang, whose office cuts state paychecks, said Thursday that he won’t follow the order unless a court tells him to.

The letter from the governor’s Department of Personnel Administration instructs Chiang to withhold employees’ pay because the state started the 2010-11 fiscal year Thursday without a budget appropriating money for payroll. Hours earlier, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially ended 17 months of furloughs for state workers.